Before we get to my totally unofficial results, let's talk about this being a somewhat disappointing contest.

Huge prizes should have lured more designers into this, but the contest was the 5th running concurrently and wasn't given enough time after the others' deadlines for interest and quality to build. People finishing up their submissions for the Semi-Perm or Beyond the Pit contests had less than a week to work-up designs for this.

The theme was also a bit more limited, which made it less appealig than some of the other more open-ended contests around at the same time. This is one you had to think about. And although I like the song plenty, its lyrics are a bit direct for a lot of visual play to occur.

So, the relative difficulty of designing compounded with the clusterfunk of contest deadlines, resulted in a fairly sparse competition in my opinion. Not to detract from the abilities or designs of those who will win, but I am sure this is something they were excited to see.

Anyway.... My picks are such:

#1- Submission 18 - Iwouldbejosh

The one who would be josh takes what's fairly direct and makes it more obtuse and gets a great result in the end. Dressing the dodos up was a nice touch and compliments the band's fashion aesthetic in a cute way. I look at this and think... too bad those dodos don't know they'll never be able to make a "comeback". And, I think, that captures the overall mood of the song in a way that nothing else did. Reminds me of Marcel Dzama for some reason.

#2- x - eratiket

Simple art that works well to capture the expressionless, antiquey feel of the video. It seemed there was some leaning toward using the video as inspiration, and I think this one does that well.

#3- The Sleepless Theatre - swingliner

Very nice design that has a couple design faults. The brain and butterflies bit, I'd argue is a fitting addition but it is too prominent in the overall design and pulls the viewer away from focus, which is the finger puppet exhibition. Also, the bottom corner placement doesn't seem logical for this design as it fights against the negative space instead of utilizing it for balance. Having this be the centered vertical stripe it wants to be and sizing down the brain and butterflies a bit would allow the viewer to digest it more comfortably and thus make a more memorable design.

Runner-Up- sing along - Awesomeinc

A symbolic lyric sheet that hits like a shotgun blast to the chest. Clever, but a little weak in its current incarnation. Letting the symbols break out of their rigid box a bit would enhance the art style and the design overall.... and using the banana color as an actual third color would allow this to be placed on a stronger, muted color (like sage) where it would really be exceptional.

Good luck to everyone! Did I miss any great entries?